Nevada moves medical marijuana card application online

Nevada has begun allowing applicants for medical marijuana patient cards to apply online, a move that could increase the market for dispensaries by streamlining the process and therefore encouraging more people to sign up.

The move is the result of negotiations between the Nevada Dispensary Association and state officials, Riana Durrett, the association’s executive director, told the Las Vegas Sun. “Everything is online now.”

The improvements are meant to help patients who may be homebound or who live in remote areas, Durrett said, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The online system also removes the need to get in a car.

Under the previous system, the application process could take up to three months, the Las Vegas Sun said. Applicants were required to send a $25 pre-application fee to the Division of Public and Behavioral Health office in Carson City, then wait up to two weeks for a paper application to be sent back if the application was approved.

Next, patients had to visit a doctor and receive that doctor’s recommendation for their cards, and then fill an application and send it with the doctor’s note and $75 fee to Carson City. That typically took 30 to 60 days to get approval. The final step required patients to turn in their approved paperwork to a local Department of Motor Vehicles office, which would mail the card to the patient within two weeks.